Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, February 5, 2003

What a difference a year makes.

In the first of five games last season between Riordan High and Sacred Heart Cathedral, the Crusaders' Marquise Kately, the 2002 San Francisco Player of the Year, ran down the lane on a missed shot, grabbed the rebound and dunked the ball with such force it shook the backboard.

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There was no talk of state championships. No talk of West Catholic Athletic League championships. Just a game between two schools trying to play better basketball.

"We've had a lot of growing pains," said Riordan coach Rich Forslund, who lost Kately to a prep school in Connecticut and 6-foot-8 center John Tofi to Texas-El Paso. "We've made a lot mistakes. But we accomplished the three things we set out to do tonight: Get the ball inside, get to the free-throw line and play solid defense."

Riordan's Dior Lowhorn did most of the work, scoring 24 points with eight rebounds as the Crusaders withstood a late Irish run to end a five-game losing streak.

Sacred Heart guard Jason Hill nailed five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 28 points, including a four-point play with 39 seconds left in the fourth quarter to cut the Riordan lead to 49-46. Crusaders guard Demond Williams sealed the game with four free throws in the final 31 seconds.

Sacred Heart lost its fifth straight game and dropped to 7-13 overall, 3-7 in league. Riordan is 10-10 and 4-6 in league and is tied for fourth place in the WCAL with St. Ignatius.

Serra 54, St. Ignatius 50: Andrew Kochevar scored 24 points, shooting 9-for- 9 from the free-throw line and making five 3-pointers for the visiting Padres (16-4, 8-2). St. Ignatius' Joe Toboni scored 20 points for the Wildcats (12-8, 4-6).

Mitty 64, Bellarmine 43: The Monarchs (17-4, 9-1) took over sole possession of first place in the WCAL after beating the visiting Bells (13-7, 8-2). Mitty's Steve Chang led all scorers with 28 points.

Katie Curtis had 14 and freshman Taylor Lee 13 for the Dons (12-7, 5-2). The Matadors led from start to finish but needed strong bench play to eke out the victory. Their last lost was Jan. 3 to third-ranked Piedmont 65-59.